NOAA-OAR-SG-2025-28993.pdf

NOTICE OF FUNDING OPPORTUNITY

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Table of Contents

NOTICE OF FUNDING OPPORTUNITY

Executive Summary Full Text of Announcement

I. Funding Opportunity Description II. Award Information III. Eligibility Information IV. Application and Submission Information V. Application Review Information VI. Award Administration Information VII. Agency Contacts VIII. Other Information

Executive Summary Federal Agency Name OAR National Sea Grant College Program (SG) Funding Opportunity Title Sea Grant Programs Only - FY2025 Aquaculture Internship Programs Announcement Type Competitive Funding Opportunity Number

NOAA-OAR-SG-2025-28993

Assistance Listing Number(s) 11.417 Dates Full proposal applications are due 01/29/2025. Period of Performance: Projects must have a start date of June 1, 2025 and an end date of no later than May 31, 2027.

Funding Opportunity Description The National Sea Grant College Program was enacted by the U.S. Congress in 1966 (amended in 2020, Public Law 116-221) to support leveraged federal and state partnerships that harness the intellectual capacity of the nation’s universities and research institutions to solve problems and generate opportunities in coastal communities.

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Subject to the availability of funding, Sea Grant anticipates that approximately $1,500,000 will be available to fund aquaculture internships for a period of up to two years through the Sea Grant Aquaculture Internships Program. Federal funds ranging from $100,000-$500,000 may be requested per application. It is anticipated that this funding opportunity will occur on an annual basis, pending federal appropriations. The overall goal of the Sea Grant Aquaculture Internships Program is to provide commercial aquaculture experience for students (attending high school, undergraduate, or graduate school, including community colleges) and other interested individuals at partnering aquaculture operations. Successful proposals will provide hands-on, practical aquaculture work experience. Sea Grant programs and associated partners will administer their specific internship opportunities and funds should be utilized, in part, to fund salaries of interns, intern housing and transportation expenses as appropriate. Successful programs will provide interns with exposure to a variety of tasks associated with the operation of partnering aquaculture-related operations either public or private; enhance future employment opportunities and professional development;

demonstrate significant partnership with the aquaculture community; and require documentation/reporting from interns and participating partners regarding internships.

Participation of students enrolled in Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) is encouraged.

Proposals must include participation and involvement of Sea Grant extension personnel and aquaculture community stakeholders. These investments are consistent with Sea Grant’s focus area of Sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture (SFA) and the Sea Grant Network’s 10-year Aquaculture Vision, both which support NOAA and Department of Commerce aquaculture goals.

This competition is open to all Sea Grant Programs. A Sea Grant Program may submit or be a part of more than one application. Programs are encouraged to partner with other Sea Grant Programs and/or other entities such as individuals, State and Tribal Agencies/Organizations, Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs), non-governmental organizations (NGOs), aquaculture industry members and associations, high schools, universities, and colleges, including community colleges. Federal agencies and their personnel are not permitted to receive federal funding under this competition; however, federal scientists and other employees can serve as uncompensated partners or co-Principal Investigators on applications. Federal labs and offices can also make available specialized expertise, facilities or equipment to applicants but cannot be compensated under this competition for their use, nor can the value of such assets be used as match.

All projects must take place within the United States or territories or their respective waterways.

Applicants must complete and maintain three registrations to be eligible to apply for or receive an award. These registrations includeSAM.gov, Grants.gov, and eRA Commons. All registrations must be completed prior to the application being submitted. The complete registration process for all three systems can take 4 to 6 weeks, so applicants should begin this activity as soon as possible. If an eligible applicant does not have access to the internet, please contact the Agency Contacts listed in Section VII for submission instructions. NOAA has created a guide to aid applicants format application packages to eRA, linked here.

Prior to registering with eRA Commons, applicants must first obtain a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) from SAM.gov, if needed (refer to Section IV. Applications and Submission Information, Section C). Organizations can register with eRA Commons in tandem with completing their full SAM and Grants.gov registrations; however, all registrations must be in place by time of application submission. eRA Commons requires organizations to identify at least one Signing Official (SO) and at least one Program Director/Principal Investigator (PD/PI) account in order to submit an application.

This document sets out requirements for submitting to NOAA-OAR-SG-2025-28993.

Full Text of Announcement I. Funding Opportunity Description A. Program Objective https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/sam.gov/content/home__;!!FiG2giev53vN!6sxfF1sAvFOjycyhk2fdYVMXfZUYW1Ds_UXVaciBtzYJKo3z8ULHyQvQg4Ofc9vYVkBUxe6XLOLToDr9jML3HFOGrg$ https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/www.grants.gov/web/grants/home.html__;!!FiG2giev53vN!6sxfF1sAvFOjycyhk2fdYVMXfZUYW1Ds_UXVaciBtzYJKo3z8ULHyQvQg4Ofc9vYVkBUxe6XLOLToDr9jMLXTbXHRA$ https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/www.era.nih.gov/eracommons-timeline.htm__;!!FiG2giev53vN!6sxfF1sAvFOjycyhk2fdYVMXfZUYW1Ds_UXVaciBtzYJKo3z8ULHyQvQg4Ofc9vYVkBUxe6XLOLToDr9jMKhmRSrhg$ https://seagrant.noaa.gov/opportunities/funding/#resources

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NOAA provides funding to Sea Grant institutions to increase the understanding, assessment, development, management, utilization, and conservation of the Nation’s ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes resources by providing assistance to promote a strong educational base, responsive research and training activities, broad and prompt dissemination of knowledge and techniques, and multidisciplinary approaches to environmental problems, in accordance with 33 USC 1121(b). This opportunity is open to: Sea Grant College Programs, Sea Grant Institutional Programs, and Sea Grant Coherent Area Programs. For the remainder of this document, these entities are collectively referred to as “Sea Grant Programs”.

The U.S. has a goal to sustainably increase production in aquaculture systems (ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes), while increasing the economic resilience and nutritional security of communities across the country. Farming of finfish, shellfish, sea vegetables/algae, and other aquaculture provides great potential in the U.S. for increasing the supply of coastal, ocean and Great Lakes-sourced products while supporting and growing rural and coastal communities and economies. One critical component to sustaining U.S. aquaculture is workforce development. Unfortunately, there are limited options currently available for students and other individuals interested in aquaculture to gain hand-on experience through working with aquaculture-related businesses and facilities.

This competition ("FY2025 Aquaculture Internship Programs - Sea Grant Programs Only," (NOFO number: NOAA-OAR-SG-2025-28993) focuses on establishing Sea Grant Program-based aquaculture internships, with the overall goal of providing hands-on work experience for students and other individuals at partnering commercial aquaculture operations, including farms as well as supporting businesses such as processing plants and feed mills. In turn, partner operations will benefit from internships as an additional source of labor and training the pool of future candidates for positions in their operation.

Students attending high school, undergraduate, or graduate school, including community colleges, and two or four year institutions, as well as other individuals such as members of the commercial fishing community and U.S. Service Veterans are eligible to participate as interns. Successful projects will provide interns with exposure to a variety of tasks associated with the operation of partnering aquaculture-related businesses and facilities, enhance future employment opportunities and professional development; demonstrate significant partnership with the aquaculture community; and require documentation/reporting from interns and participating partners regarding internships.

Participation of students enrolled in Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) is encouraged. Sea Grant programs and associated partners will administer their specific internship opportunities. Available funding can be used to support administration of the internship program; intern salaries and insurance (subject to the restrictions of 2 C.F.R. § 200.447), housing and transportation expenses; compensation of partners (public or private) participating in the internship program; and costs associated with outreach activities focused on the internship program. It is envisioned that this funding opportunity, with potential variation in total funding available, will be available annually, contingent on appropriations. Awardees may reapply in subsequent years. New internship programs as well as existing internship programs are eligible to be supported through this competition.

Strong applications will address program priorities described below and will document the successes as well as challenges of internships, from both an intern and an aquaculture-related business or facility perspective. Principal investigators and/or project team members of proposals selected for funding will be required to participate in a National Sea Grant Aquaculture Symposium to be held at a future aquaculture meeting venue to share project results.

B. Program Priorities

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NSGO recognizes that there is the need to enhance workforce development opportunities in support of the existing and developing U.S. aquaculture industry. This competition is being established as a means for students and other individuals interested in aquaculture to gain valuable hands-on experience and knowledge by working as interns at aquaculture-related operations and facilities, including support businesses such as processing plants and feed mills. The overall goal of the internship program is to provide practical on-site work experience for students and other individuals at partnering aquaculture-related businesses.

Students attending high school, undergraduate, or graduate school, including community colleges, and two or four year institutions, as well as other individuals, are eligible to participate as interns.

Successful proposals must:

• Provide interns with exposure to a variety of tasks associated with the operation of partnering aquaculture-related businesses and operations, either public or private, enhancing their future employment opportunities and professional development

• Demonstrate significant partnership with the aquaculture community

• Require documentation/reporting from interns and participating partners regarding internships, specifically documentation of the successes as well as challenges of internships, from both the intern as well as the partner’s perspective

• Involve Sea Grant extension personnel in project activities, including outreach and education efforts

• Involve aquaculture community stakeholders Participation of students enrolled in Minority Serving Institutions is encouraged.

The above criteria should lead to the selection of proposals that: 1) contribute to the hands-on aquaculture experience gained by individuals participating in internships, thereby enhancing their future employment opportunities and professional development; 2) benefit participating aquaculture-related operations and facilities through provision of additional sources of labor and training the pool of future candidates for positions in their operation;

and 3) contribute to future workforce development in support of the U.S. aquaculture industry.

C. Program Authority Statutory authority for this program is provided under the National Sea Grant College Program Act of 1966, as amended (33 USC 1121 et seq.).

II. Award Information A. Funding Availability Subject to the availability of funding, this announcement describes how eligible applicants should apply for this funding opportunity entitled “FY2025 Aquaculture Internship Programs

- Sea Grant Program Only.” The National Sea Grant Office (NSGO) anticipates that approximately $1,500,000 in FY2025 federal funds will be available in order to support internship programs that address the program priorities of this competition. Each award will be between $100,000 and $500,000.

Applications require the standard 50% non-federal match for Sea Grant projects. The cumulative match at the end of each year of the grant must not fall below 50 percent of the cumulative federal request up to that point.

There is no guarantee that funds will be available to make awards, or that any application will be selected for funding. If an applicant incurs any costs prior to receiving an award agreement signed by an authorized NOAA official, it does so at its own risk of not being selected or of these costs not being included in a subsequent award. NOAA and DOC will not be responsible for any incurred project costs if a project fails to receive full funding.

B. Project/Award Period Projects must have a start date no earlier than June 1, 2025 and an end date of no later than May 31, 2027.

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C. Type of Funding Instrument The funding instrument is a cooperative agreement to an eligible institution. A cooperative agreement is used when substantial involvement of the federal government during performance of the proposed work is anticipated. The nature of the substantial involvement includes strategic engagement with the National Sea Grant Aquaculture Team, support from National Sea Grant communication efforts, and requires that award recipients follow reporting requirements and participate in a future Sea Grant Aquaculture Research Symposium.

III. Eligibility Information A. Eligible Applicants The following entities are eligible to submit to this opportunity: Sea Grant College Programs, Sea Grant Institutional Programs, and Sea Grant Coherent Area Programs. For the remainder of this document, these entities are collectively referred to as “Sea Grant Programs”.

Programs are encouraged to partner with other Sea Grant Programs and/or other entities such as individuals, State and Tribal Agencies/Organizations, MSIs, NGOs, aquaculture industry members and associations, high schools, universities, and colleges, including community colleges. Federal agencies and their personnel are not permitted to receive federal funding under this competition; however, federal scientists and other employees can serve as uncompensated partners or co-Principal Investigators on applications. Federal labs and offices can also make available specialized expertise, facilities or equipment to applicants but cannot be compensated under this competition for their use, nor can the value of such assets be used as match.

To be eligible to apply or receive an award, applicants must complete and maintain three registrations; SAM.gov, Grants.gov, and eRA Commons. For each, the complete registration process can take 4 to 6 weeks, so applicants should begin this activity as soon as possible and well before the proposal due date. For more information on how to meet these registration and application submission requirements without errors, we advise all to carefully review relevant Applicant and Grantee Training modules:

https://www.commerce.gov/ocio/programs/gems/applicant-and-grantee-training.

Additionally, we advise that all carefully read ‘Additional Application Package Forms’ within the ‘Full Proposal Required Elements’ section below.

The National Sea Grant College Program champions diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) by recruiting, retaining, and preparing a diverse workforce, and proactively engaging and serving the diverse populations of coastal communities. Sea Grant is committed to building inclusive research, extension, communication, and education programs that serve people with unique backgrounds, circumstances, needs, perspectives, and ways of thinking. We encourage Sea Grant program applications to reflect diverse participation with regard to age, race, ethnicities, national origins, gender identities, sexual orientations, disabilities, cultures, religions, citizenship types, marital statuses, education levels, job classifications, veteran status types, income, and socioeconomic status.

B. Cost Share or Matching Requirement Non-federal matching funds equal to at least 50 percent of the federal funding request must be provided unless a waiver justified by statute is granted, such as the waiver for insular areas granted by the Department of Commerce pursuant to 48 U.S.C. 1469a. If you believe your application may qualify for a waiver, please contact the National Sea Grant Office before submission to discuss it. The cumulative match at the end of each year of the grant must not fall below 50 percent of the cumulative federal request up to that point. In-kind contributions directly supporting this application may count towards this matching requirement.

C. Other Criteria that Affect Eligibility None.

https://sam.gov/content/home https://www.grants.gov/ https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/www.grants.gov/web/grants/home.html__;!!FiG2giev53vN!6sxfF1sAvFOjycyhk2fdYVMXfZUYW1Ds_UXVaciBtzYJKo3z8ULHyQvQg4Ofc9vYVkBUxe6XLOLToDr9jMLXTbXHRA$ https://www.commerce.gov/ocio/programs/gems/register-your-organization-era-commons https://www.commerce.gov/ocio/programs/gems/applicant-and-grantee-training

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IV. Application and Submission Information A. Address to Request Application Package Application packages are available online and can be downloaded from www.grants.gov under opportunity NOAA-OAR-SG-2025-28993. If an eligible applicant does not have access to the internet, please contact the Agency Contacts listed in Section VII for submission instructions.

B. Content and Form of Application This section provides an overview of the required proposal elements (and where to locate them). Applications must adhere to the provisions under "Required Elements" below. Failure to adhere to these provisions may result in a delay in award processing or rejection of the application, based on the extent of the noncompliance. The submitting applicant(s) must redact all Personally Identifiable Information (PII) in the application materials prior to final submission to grants.gov. PII that must be redacted from the application includes, but is not limited to, social security number, date of birth, student identification number (from transcripts) or other information which if lost, compromised, or disclosed without authorization, could result in harm, embarrassment, inconvenience, or unfairness to an individual.

IMPORTANT NOTE: This proposal package will be using a different set of forms than Sea Grant programs have completed in the past. Instead of the “SF424 NOAA Standard Non- Construction Application Package” of forms, this application will include the “SF424 NOAA Research & Related (R&R) Forms Package.” While many of the forms may be familiar, please pay special attention to the headings and instructions in this section.

NOAA has created a guide to aid applicants format application packages to eRA: Tips and Tricks for Successful eRA Submissions, linked here. Recent applicants have encountered rejected applications for formatting issues, especially:

• All attachments must be in PDF form.

• Do not use “bundling” or “portfolio” features to combine PDFs into a single document. Everything must be visible in the PDF.

• Descriptive filenames may only be 50 characters or less (including spaces).

• Keep attachment file size to 100 MB or less.

• eRA won’t accept any pages larger than the U.S. standard letter paper size (8.5” x

11”).

We strongly recommend that applicants attempt to submit their full proposals at least a few days prior to the due date in case these or other issues impact your submission, as they are not reasons we can extend the deadline. If you have issues during the submission process, please contact theeRA Service Desk.

Required Elements:

Applications must include the following elements. Failure to adhere to these provisions may result in a delay in award processing or rejection of the application, based on the extent of the noncompliance.

Full Proposal Required Elements (please also see VIII. Other Information for additional post-application required elements for submission):

1. Research & Related Senior/Key Person Profile Form (Grants.gov, OMB Control No.

4040-0001) http://www.grants.gov https://seagrant.noaa.gov/opportunities/funding/#resources https://www.era.nih.gov/need-help

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This form must be completed and include a profile for the Principal Investigator and any co- PI(s). CVs and RELEVANT Current and Pending Support for each person’s profile will also be attached to this form. The biosketch/CV for Senior/Key Persons listed should not exceed five pages. The first listed PD/PI on the application must include their eRA Commons ID in the “Credential, e.g., agency login” field of form. Failure to register in eRA Commons and to include a valid PD/PI Commons ID in the Applicant Identifier field will prevent the successful submission of an electronic application. eRA Commons registration can take 2-3 weeks to be approved, so it is encouraged to start the registration process as soon as possible. NOAA is not involved with eRA registration.

Additional personnel included on the form do not need to include this information, however eRA will create a warning recommending those personnel also have valid eRA Commons IDs.

Again - it is not required that those additional personnel include valid eRA Commons IDs regardless of the warnings created by the eRA system.

2. Research and Related Budget Form The Research and Related Budget is a form that must be completed covering the entire award by each yearly budget period following the instructions from Grants.gov (e.g., if an award is two years, there needs to be a Budget Period 1 and Budget Period 2 filled out). At the end of the Research and Related Budget form, “Section L” provides space for one attachment titled, “Budget Justification.” The budget narrative for the project must be attached there. The budget narrative should explain the budget items by object class category and year (for both federal and non-federal/match) in sufficient detail to enable review of the appropriateness of the funding requested.

For the budget narrative, you must closely follow the budget narrative guidance found at:

NOAA Grants Management Division's Budget Narrative Guidance Dollar amounts in this form and narrative must be in whole dollars. Please ensure the numbers in the forms and narrative match.

IMPORTANT: Non-federal matching funds equal to at least 50 percent of the federal funding request must be provided unless a waiver justified by statute is granted and the cumulative match at the end of each year of the grant must not fall below 50 percent of the cumulative federal request up to that point.

3. Research & Related Other Project Information Form (Grants.gov, OMB Control No.

4040-0001)

This form must be completed for the application, and should also be used to attach the Project Abstract Summary Form, the Project Narrative, Bibliography & References Cited (if applicable), and any other relevant forms or information as applicable. See form-specific instructions available on Grants.gov for additional instructions as needed.

a. Project Summary/Abstract Attachment This attachment should contain the Project Abstract. Using 4,000 characters or less, the Project Abstract should provide an overview of the application. Ensure the Project Abstract succinctly describes the project in plain language that the public can understand and use without the full proposal. It should be a self-contained description of the application and should contain a general statement of objectives and methods to be employed. It should be informative to other persons working in the same or related fields and understandable to a technically literate lay reader. Do not include personally identifiable, sensitive or proprietary/confidential information. This project abstract information (as submitted) will be made available on public websites and/or databases including USAspending.gov.

Project Abstract Elements Use the following format:

• Purpose

• Activities to be performed

• Expected Outcomes

• Intended Beneficiaries

• Subrecipient Activities https://www.noaa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/gmd_budget_narrative_guidance_-_05-24-2017_final.pdf http://usaspending.gov

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Please note that grant processors must enter information using the above format and any deviation is STRONGLY discouraged.

• Keep the project abstract short. In most cases, each element above should be 2-3 sentences to a paragraph in length.

• DO NOT repeat the Proposal Title. The Proposal Title is always presented with the Project Description, so including it in the abstract is not necessary.

• Include a high quality description that includes specificity regarding the purpose of the project. Characteristics of strong abstracts include a plain language description of the purpose for the project (which may include specific performance goals, indicators, milestones, or expected outcomes of the project), activities to be performed, deliverables and expected outcomes, intended beneficiary or recipient.

• Keep it simple. Do not use abbreviations, acronyms, technical terminology, or agency-specific terms. The intended audience is Congress and the general public, not specific interested parties and/or federal employees.

b. Project Narrative Attachment The project proposal narrative should clearly lay out the topical nature of the proposal, how it responds to the priorities of the competition, and how it will lay the foundation for future work. Applicants should budget travel to attend and participate in a National Sea Grant Aquaculture Symposium to be held at a future aquaculture meeting venue to share results of work conducted. Dates and location for the symposium will be announced annually by the National Sea Grant Office.

The project proposal narrative should be not more than 10 pages using 12-pt font with 1” margins, inclusive of footnotes, tables, figures, and appendices. Reviewers will not be responsible for reviewing more than 10 pages of the project proposal narrative. Please note that the 10 page limit excludes the cover page, letters of commitment/support, and bibliography attachment. Applicants do not need to use the entire 10 page maximum for the project proposal narrative.

Project Narrative Elements (application must include):

1. Cover page (not included in 10-page limit) including:

• Proposal title

• Listing of all project investigators and affiliations with email addresses

• Listing of collaborators/partners

• Estimated budget by year of federal funds requested with matching funds

2. Project Narrative Summary (no more than 300 words summarizing elements 3, 4, 6, and 7 below)

3. Introduction/background/justification including a description of need(s) to be addressed by the proposed internship program

• Provide a description of the needs to be addressed regarding aquaculture workforce development in the applicant’s state/territory/region and how the proposed aquaculture internship program will address those needs.

4. Project details

• Provide a detailed description of the internship program that will be implemented, including plans to recruit interns, and a description of academic or other entities that will be a source of interns for the program

• Provide a detailed description of how the internship program will be implemented regarding expenditures (i.e. intern salaries, housing and transportation costs as appropriate, and additional expenses as appropriate)

• Provide a listing of aquaculture business partners that will participate in the internship program and how partners will be involved (letters of commitment/support from aquaculture business partners and partnering institutions or entities are required and do not count towards the page limit).

5. Timeline

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• Provide a timeline chart or bulleted list illustrating internship program activities and milestones

6. Anticipated outcomes and deliverables including:

• Provide a clear description of project outcomes and deliverables of the internship program

• Describe how the program will contribute to workforce development in support of the

U.S. aquaculture industry (i.e. how will this program strengthen the aquaculture workforce, and how will this program improve the marketable skills of participating interns)

• The internship program should include feedback from interns and participating partners regarding internships, specifically documentation of the successes as well as challenges of internships, from both the intern as well as the partner’s perspective

7. Outreach and education plan

• Describe how results from the internship program will be disseminated/transferred to the aquaculture community and the general public, including underserved groups and communities

• Describe how Sea Grant extension personnel will be involved in the outreach and education plan

8. Institutional Review Board (IRB) - if applicable

• Applicants submitting proposals that involve the use of human test subjects should state so clearly in their application. These proposed research activities require approval of the applicant’s Institutional Review Board (IRB) before such research can proceed. Applicants are responsible for obtaining IRB approval from their institution or appropriate entity and providing that documentation to NOAA once the approval is obtained and prior to any NOAA-funded human subject testing. Proposals intending to use human test subjects should specify clearly in the timeline approximately when IRB approval will be obtained and when the testing is expected to occur.

9. Diversity statement

• NSGO recognizes it has a particular and unique opportunity to support NOAA’s commitment to diversity and inclusion by taking an intentional step that encourages applicants to consider diversity and inclusion as part of their scientific projects. This action has the potential to make an impact on not only the diversity and inclusion in science at NOAA, but also in the equity of services provided by NOAA. In this section, describe how the proposed activity incorporates the input of underrepresented groups (e.g., race/ethnicity, gender identities, sexual orientation, disability, geography, etc.) and how they benefit from its outcomes. Applicants are encouraged to review the resources and best practices compiled by NSGO related to diversity, equity, and inclusion in the Resources for Applicants & Reviewers section found here:

https://seagrant.noaa.gov/funding/.

10. Letters of commitment/support confirming partnerships as listed in the proposal (does not count against the page limit). Letters of commitment/support from aquaculture business partners and partnering institutions or entities are required.

11. Other letters of support (as relevant; if included, they do not count against the page limit)

c. Bibliography & References Cited Attachment (if applicable) If applicable, provide a bibliography of any references cited in the Project Narrative. Each reference must include the names of all authors (in the same sequence in which they appear in the publication), the article and journal title, book title, volume number, page numbers, and year of publication. Include only bibliographic citations. Applicants should be especially careful to follow scholarly practices in providing citations for source materials relied upon when preparing any section of the application.

d. Other Required Attachments Environmental Compliance https://seagrant.noaa.gov/funding/

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A separate NEPA Questionnaire (OMB Control No 0648-0538) or NEPA Statement must be completed/filled out for each individual project in the application.

NEPA Questionnaire (OMB Control No. 0648-0538)

1. Applicants must ensure that the questionnaire is completed in full and includes detailed information regarding project location, methodology; and permits, authorizations, or approvals. Copies of all permits/authorizations/approvals required for project activities should be included with application materials. If a permit/authorization/approval is pending or planned, please provide this information.

o A separate questionnaire must be completed for each relevant action/project in the proposal.

o The questionnaire can be found in the Resources for Applicants & Reviewers section under the NEPA tab here: https://seagrant.noaa.gov/funding/.

o Guidance on how to complete the questionnaire, including how to describe work that will not involve any environmental impact, can be found in the Resources for Applicants & Reviewers section under the NEPA tab here:

https://seagrant.noaa.gov/funding/. Examples of questionnaires can also be found by following that link.

The NEPA Questionnaire is required for ALL research projects even if the project is fully lab-based or relies on social science. The NEPA Questionnaire is also required for any project that meets the following criteria:

• Social science projects and programs, including economic, political science, human geography, demography, and sociology studies, including information collection activities in support of studies.

• Biological, chemical, food production, ecological or toxicological research

• Environmental permits, authorizations or waivers

• Biological take and/or release

• Environmental sampling

• Hazardous or toxic substances and waste

• Permanent or temporary environmental effects

• Endangered or threatened species and/or protected areas

• Known or unknown risks to human health or the environment

• Controversial environmental subject matter

NEPA Statement Projects or actions that fall into the below categories do not need a questionnaire. If a program believes that a project in the application meets one of the exceptions, the program should include the following NEPA Statement directly after the relevant project narrative.

Please use the following format for the NEPA Statement:

“This project’s activities are exclusively composed of [choose applicable activities from the bulleted list below] and therefore no NEPA Questionnaire is being submitted, as allowed by NSGO guidance."

NOAA has final responsibility to determine whether a project or action requires environmental compliance review. If NOAA determines that a project or action needs an environmental review, the NEPA Statement is not sufficient, staff may request completion of a NEPA Questionnaire.

Some examples of projects that can use the NEPA Statement are:

• Activities that are educational, informational, or advisory to other agencies, public and private entities, visitors, individuals, or the general public, including training exercises and simulations

• Routine administrative actions

• Program or institutional management activities https://seagrant.noaa.gov/funding/ https://seagrant.noaa.gov/funding/ https://seagrant.noaa.gov/Portals/1/Forms/NEPA%20Questionnaire%20-%20Guidance.pdf

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• Placeholder projects (e.g., "Future Competed Projects"; these projects will have a Specific Award Condition on the grant and undergo environmental compliance review when the program submits an award action request to satisfy that specific award condition)

• Workshops or conferences that do not involve the above list of actions in the previous section

• Communication activities that do not involve the above list of actions in the previous section

• Hiring actions

• Purely administrative actions (e.g., purchase of office supplies)

4. Additional Application Package Forms In addition to the forms required above, standard federal forms and assurances are required and can be found with the application package on Grants.gov. These include:

a. SF-424 R&R Form (Grants.gov, OMB Control No. 4040-0001) This form, titled “Application for Federal Assistance,” must identify the entire funding period, as well as the federal funding amount being requested by the applicant and any non-federal matching fund amount. The form must be completed with the institution’s accurate EIN and DUNS and point of contact, and signed by the institution’s authorized representative or designee. Total federal and non-federal amounts listed in the SF-424 R&R, the Cumulative Budget of the Research and Related Budget form, and budget narrative must be the same.

The proposed start date must be the first day of a month and the proposed end date must be on the last day of a month.

Applicants will be required to enter their organization’s Congressional District in the SF424 R&R form. For tips on finding and entering your Congressional District correctly, please review the information found here: https://grantsgovprod.wordpress.com/2017/06/21/how-to-find-your-congressional-district-for-the-sf-424-form/

b. SF-424B Assurances (Grants.gov, OMB Control No. 4040-0007) The form, titled “Assurances – Non-Construction Programs,” must be completed and signed by the institution's authorized representative or designee.

c. CD-511 (Grants.gov, US DOC) The form, titled “Certification Regarding Lobbying,” must be completed and signed by the institution’s authorized representative or designee.

d. SF-LLL (Grants.gov, OMB Control No. 0348-0046) - optional form, include if appropriate This form, titled “Disclosure of Lobbying Activities,” is an optional form and should be included if appropriate. If included, it must be completed and signed by the institution’s authorized representative or designee.

Data Management Plan Proposals submitted in response to this Announcement must include a Data Management Plan (See Section VI.B., Administrative and National Policy Requirements, below) that is compliant with NOAA’s Public Access to Research Results Plan. The Data Management Plan should not exceed 2 pages and should be included at the end of the Project Narrative (after the NEPA Questionnaire or NEPA Statement). The Data Management Plan should include descriptions of the types of metadata and data expected to be created during the course of the project, plans for disseminating the metadata and data to the broader community, and plans for long-term archiving of the metadata and data.

If proposed activities will not generate any environmental data, please include the following statement at the end of the Project Narrative (after the NEPA Questionnaire or NEPA Statement): “Because this project will not generate environmental data, a Data Management Plan is not required.”

Proposals submitted in response to this Announcement must include a Data Management Plan (up to 2 pages). See Section VI.B., Administrative and National Policy Requirements, below for additional information on what the plan should contain.

C. Unique entity identifier and System for Award Management (SAM) https://grantsgovprod.wordpress.com/2017/06/21/how-to-find-your-congressional-district-for-the-sf-424-form/ https://grantsgovprod.wordpress.com/2017/06/21/how-to-find-your-congressional-district-for-the-sf-424-form/

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Each applicant (unless the applicant is an individual or Federal awarding agency that is excepted from those requirements under 2 CFR 25.110(b) or (c), or has an exception approved by the Federal awarding agency under 2 CFR 25.110(d)) is required to: (i) Be registered in SAM before submitting its application; (ii) Provide a valid unique entity identifier (UEI) in its application; and (iii) Continue to maintain an active SAM registration with current information at all times during which it has an active Federal award or an application or plan under consideration by a Federal awarding agency. NOAA may not make a Federal award to an applicant until the applicant has complied with all applicable unique entity identifier and SAM requirements and, if an applicant has not fully complied with the requirements by the time NOAA is ready to make a Federal award, NOAA may determine that the applicant is not qualified to receive a Federal award and use that determination as a basis for making a Federal award to another applicant.

D. Submission Dates and Times Applications must be submitted to Grants.gov and accepted by eRA by 11:59 p.m. Eastern time on January 29, 2025.

Please note: validation or rejection of an application by Grants.gov and eRA may take up to two business days after submission. Eligible Sea Grant programs should consider this process in developing their submission timeline. For eligible applications submitted through Grants.gov and eRA, a date and time receipt indication is included and will be the basis of determining timeliness. NOAA has created a guide to aid applicants format application packages to eRA: Tips and Tricks for Successful eRA Submissions, linked here.

E. Intergovernmental Review Applications under the National Sea Grant College Program are not subject to Executive Order 12372, “Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs.”

F. Funding Restrictions The Sea Grant Act at 33 USC 1124(d)(2) states:

“No payment under any grant or contract under this section may be applied to:

(A) the purchase or rental of any land; or

(B) the purchase, rental, construction, preservation, or repair of any building, dock, or vessel; except that payment under any such grant or contract may be applied to the short-term rental of buildings or facilities for meetings which are in direct support of any Sea Grant Program or project and may, if approved by the Secretary, be applied to the purchase, rental, construction, preservation, or repair of non-self-propelled habitats, buoys, platforms, and other similar devices or structures, or to the rental of any research vessel which is used in direct support of activities under any Sea Grant Program or project.”

G. Other Submission Requirements Applicants must complete and maintain three registrations to be eligible to apply for or receive an award. These registrations include SAM.gov, Grants.gov, and eRA Commons. All registrations must be completed prior to the application being submitted. The complete registration process for all three systems can take 4 to 6 weeks, so applicants should begin this activity as soon as possible. If an eligible applicant does not have access to the internet, please contact the Agency Contacts listed in Section VII for submission instructions.

Prior to registering with eRA Commons, applicants must first obtain a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) from SAM.gov, if needed (refer to Section IV. Applications and Submission Information, Section C). Applicants can register with eRA Commons in tandem with completing their full SAM and Grants.gov registrations; however, all registrations must be in place by time of application submission. eRA Commons requires organizations to identify at least one Signing Official (SO) and at least one Program Director/Principal Investigator (PD/PI) account in order to submit an application.

https://seagrant.noaa.gov/opportunities/funding/#resources https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/sam.gov/content/home__;!!FiG2giev53vN!6sxfF1sAvFOjycyhk2fdYVMXfZUYW1Ds_UXVaciBtzYJKo3z8ULHyQvQg4Ofc9vYVkBUxe6XLOLToDr9jML3HFOGrg$ https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/www.grants.gov/web/grants/home.html__;!!FiG2giev53vN!6sxfF1sAvFOjycyhk2fdYVMXfZUYW1Ds_UXVaciBtzYJKo3z8ULHyQvQg4Ofc9vYVkBUxe6XLOLToDr9jMLXTbXHRA$ https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/www.era.nih.gov/eracommons-timeline.htm__;!!FiG2giev53vN!6sxfF1sAvFOjycyhk2fdYVMXfZUYW1Ds_UXVaciBtzYJKo3z8ULHyQvQg4Ofc9vYVkBUxe6XLOLToDr9jMKhmRSrhg$

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The first PD/PI listed on the application must include their eRA Commons ID in the"Credential, e.g. agency login" Applicant Identifier field on the SF424 form.Failure to register in the Commons and to include a valid PD/PI Commons ID in the Applicant Identifier field will prevent the successful submission of an electronic application.

After submission to Grants.gov, the PI listed on the application will receive an email notification from the eRA email address era-notify@mail.nih.gov. This email will either confirm a successful submission to eRA or list errors and warnings associated with the application. Errors must be addressed, the application resubmitted via Grants.gov, and an email received by the listed PI indicating a successful submission to eRA for an application to be successfully received by NOAA.

V. Application Review Information

1. Importance/relevance and applicability of proposed projects to the program goals

Maximum Points:

This criterion ascertains whether there is intrinsic value in the proposed work and/or relevance to NOAA, federal, regional, state, or local activities. For the FY2025 Aquaculture Internship Programs - Sea Grant Programs Only competition, this includes a description of the needs to be addressed regarding aquaculture workforce development in the applicant’s state/territory/region and how an aquaculture internship program will address those needs.

2. Technical/scientific merit Maximum Points: 30 This criterion assesses whether the approach is technically sound and/or innovative, if the work is appropriate, and whether the project details are clearly described. For the FY2025 Aquaculture Internship Programs - Sea Grant Programs Only competition, this includes:

• A detailed description of how the internship program will be implemented, including plans to recruit interns, a description of academic or other entities that will be a source of interns for the program

• A listing of aquaculture business partners that will participate in the internship program and how partners will be involved (letters of commitment/support from aquaculture business partners and partnering institutions or entities are required)

• A timeline chart or bulleted list of internship program activities that is realistic within the award period and proposed budget

3. Overall qualifications of applicants Maximum Points: 15 This criterion ascertains whether the applicant, as well as school/institution/entity and aquaculture-related business or facility participants possess the necessary education, experience, training, facilities, and administrative resources to accomplish the internship program.

4. Project costs Maximum Points: 20 This criterion evaluates the budget to determine if it is realistic and commensurate with the internship program needs and time frame. For the FY2025 Aquaculture Internship Programs - Sea Grant Programs Only competition,, this includes:

• A description regarding expenditures (i.e. intern salaries, housing and transportation costs, and additional expenses as appropriate)

5. Outcomes and deliverables, including outreach and education plan Maximum Points: 20 This criterion assesses whether the project provides a clear description of anticipated outcomes and deliverables that will result from the project. For the FY2025 Aquaculture Internship Programs - Sea Grant Programs Only competition, this includes:

• A clear description of project outcomes and deliverables mailto:era-notify@mail.nih.gov

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• A description of how the program will contribute to workforce development in support of the U.S. aquaculture industry (i.e. how will this program strengthen the aquaculture workforce, and how will this program improve the marketable skills of participating interns)

• A plan to include feedback from interns and participating partners regarding internships, specifically documentation of the successes as well as challenges of internships, from both the intern as well as the partner’s perspective

• A description of how results from the internship program will be disseminated/transferred to the aquaculture community and the general public, including underserved groups and communities

• A description of how Sea Grant extension personnel will be involved in the outreach and education plan

Evaluation Criteria Review and Selection Process Once a full proposal application has been received by NOAA, an initial administrative review is conducted to determine compliance with requirements and completeness of the application.

Applications that are missing required elements listed in Section IV. B. above, or applications coming from ineligible applicants may be rejected without further review. NOAA in its sole discretion may continue review of applications with minor deficiencies that may be easily rectified or cured.

Applications that pass the administrative review will be reviewed by subject matter experts.

Each proposal will receive at least three written reviews assessing its merits with regard to the evaluation criteria. Upon completion of written reviews, reviewer scores will be averaged to produce a rank order of proposals. The selecting official shall award in the rank order unless the application is justified to be selected out of rank order based upon any of the selection factors provided in Section V.C. The selecting official shall make final recommendations for awards to the Grants Officer who is authorized to obligate the funds and execute the award. Applicants should be aware that, based on past competitions, not all highly rated projects may be able to be funded.

The program manager, NEPA staff lead, or grants specialist may contact the applicants to discuss…